


Comics Aren't Always Comical

by orphan_account



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Hale Family Feels, M/M, alpha/beta bonding, nice guy derek, responsible alpha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 11:32:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/697805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Derek is trying to be a responsible Alpha, so he decides that Isaac will move in with him in his new place. The only thing Isaac asks of him is a special place to put his old friend's comic book. Things take off from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comics Aren't Always Comical

"Well that's a bit of an odd request.. Why would you need a special place for a book? It's just paper you know."

He took the comic from Isaac's hands to investigate it. It looked old, yet it was not opened before. "You planning to make a couple bucks off of this or something?" He laughed.

Derek was just really baffled by the idea of a book being special to someone. The way Derek grew up, the only thing important to him was his family. His pack. He did not understand value being placed in material things. A comic book especially did not fit into his category of valuable.

"I would never!" Isaac swiftly snatched it out of Derek's hand. "It's not just paper!" He would have normally never dared to raise his voice to his Alpha like that, but that really struck a nerve with him. "It's worth more to me than anything else I have! If you invited me to stay here so you can insult me and laugh about it, there are plenty of other places I would rather find shelter. Thanks for nothing."

There was a massive amount of hurt hidden in his face. It was deeper than what Derek had initially thought. But if anyone knew about hurt, it was Derek. He felt bad for triggering that in Isaac, so he wanted to try and help him. If he couldn't be anything else for Isaac, he could at least be a listening ear for his issues.

He grabbed Isaac's arm. "Isaac, wait." Isaac stopped mid-stride, but kept his back turned on him. "Isaac, look at me." Derek stood there holding onto him, and he felt Isaac starting to shake. He turned around to Derek with a face full of pain, almost at the point of crying. Upon seeing Isaac's face that way, Derek's look became one of compassion and sympathy.

"Look, Isaac. I'm sorry if I insulted you. I honestly did not know you were being serious about it. I was not trying to hurt you, I was trying to be funny but I guess I should have known better. That's more of a Stiles thing." Derek let go of Isaac's arm, and Isaac smiled a bit.

"It's fine, really. This is just really important to me. It belongs to an old friend of mine.." His smile dropped at the thought of it.

Derek's gaze on him softened. "Isaac, I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. I'm trying with you and doing the best I can, but I can't do anything more than you allow me to. So tell me what's going on? Whose comic is this?"

Isaac let out a grim sigh. "It belongs to Matt..."

Derek had mixed feelings about Isaac's response. On one hand, Matt was the guy who controlled the kanima and held everyone up at gunpoint in the police station after he had (kanima) Jackson kill all the others for him. But on the other hand, he must have meant something to Isaac for him to think of Matt as a friend. He decided to keep a compassionate face on for him.

"But if it belongs to Matt, then why do you have it?" It just didn't add up to him.

"Well I'm sure you already know what happened with him and the swim team all those years ago. The only reason he was there in the first place is because I invited him over. I wanted to give him an early birthday present. His birthday was the next day, and with all of the excitement in the house over the swim team's big win, I couldn't wait any longer to give it to him."

"And the present was..." Derek couldn't bring himself to finish his own sentence. Isaac did it for him.

"Yes, the present was this comic book. Batman, just like he loved them.. We used to read them together. We would take turns reading them to each other, and this was one that he was supposed to read to me..."

Derek had no idea that Isaac and Matt had that kind of bond. All of this was really giving him a new perspective on the two of them. He wishes he could have had a friendship like theirs when he was younger. "So, what was that like? Spending that spending that kind of time together?"

Isaac was happy to see Derek be so interested. "It was great. Whenever it was his turn, we would sit beside each other on my bed. he would put an arm around my waist, with his chin resting on my shoulder while he read to me. I loved the way the vibration of his vocal chords would resonate through me when we were sitting like that. I loved the way I loved the way that he would hold one side of the book and I would hold the other side because his other hand was holding mine.. You know, he used to call me the Robin to his Batman. He said it was because he would keep me by his side, always. I called him the Batman to my Robin, because when the Dark Knight fell... he would rise again."

Tears started to stream down his face. "I still keep this in hopes that maybe what I said would be true and he would somehow come back for me, and he would finally read it to me. I know it's stupid, but I still have hope, Derek. Why do I keep hoping for things I know I can't have?! What is wrong with me, why do I feel this way? Why do I still believe? He's dead now and it should have been me! It was my fault he was like that, I drove him to that point! Why couldn't I save him?!"

His voice began to break, and all he could do was shake his head and close his eyes to hold back his tears. Derek put his arms around him in a warm embrace and rubbed the back of Isaac's head with one of his hands.

"I'm sorry, Isaac. I'm so sorry that all of this has been weighing so heavy on you. Let me tell you something, it is definitely okay to hope. I hope every night when I go to sleep that I will wake up and have my family piled around me like we used to sleep. I know it's stupid, but I hope for something I know I can't have, just like you do."

Derek wasn't crying, but Isaac held him anyway. "I can't believe that you've been carrying that around with you for so long... You know what though?" He pulled back from Derek and he smiled.

"What is it?"

"I just realized it. I know how we can help each other fill the void we carry around. I mean, we're basically family now... So, if you wanted, I could sleep in the room with you from now on y'know. Like your family used to. Only if you want me to, though."

Derek smiled, and it was the biggest smile Isaac had ever seen come from the infamously dark and mysterious Derek Hale. (Isaac could swear there was a choir of angels singing behind Derek's head when he smiled, but he tuned it out)

"I would actually love that, so much, Isaac. Now that I think of it, I can help you too. You could be the Robin to my Batman. I know I'm nothing like Matt, and the bond we share is a different kind. But I want to help you like you'll be helping me. You're my family now, and it's my job to take care of you. I'll read to you while we're huddled up, and you can count on me to rise back up from every fall."

"You would really do that for me? You're so great to me! Sorry I lashed out on you earlier.." He looked away feeling a bit ashamed.

"Of course I would! I mean, I am the Alpha Batman now aren't I?" They both laughed, and it was a beautiful moment of shared laughter. Derek put his hand on Isaac's shoulder. "Now, let's get your things moved in. Okay?"

They both smiled at each other. "Okay!"

He didn't bring too many things from his house so it didn't take long for them to finish unpacking. He didn't want to have too many memories from that place, most of the memories were dark now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derek followed up on his promise to Isaac. Derek had to be the one to open it, because it was meant to be opened by Isaac's Batman. Technically, now his Alpha Batman opened it up but that was just a minor detail and it worked for him. They were in the bed now, Isaac holding one side, Derek holding the other. Derek's arm behind Isaac's neck, hand in his hair. As he read the last words, Isaac was drifting off into sleep. Derek closed the book and reached it over onto his desk. He went to sleep that night knowing that Isaac would still be there in the morning. He kept a mental note in the back of his mind that to make a bookshelf for Isaac in the morning so he could have his special place to keep that comic.

"Goodnight, Robin.."


End file.
